Snap-hook



(No Model.)

J. H. WITTMANN.

SNAP HOOK.

No. 537,332. Patented Apr. 9, 1395.

W/TNESSES:

INVENTOH A TTORNEYS.

NITED STATES PATENT nron.

JOSEPH H. WITTMANN, OF LINCOLN, NEBRASKA.

SNAP-HOOK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 537,332, dated April 9, 1 895.

' Application filed December 29,1894. Serial No. 583,247. (No model.)

To all whom it'may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH H. WITTMANN, of Lincoln, in the county of Lancaster and State of Nebraska, have invented a new and Improved Snap-Hook, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in snap hooks; and the object of my invention is to produce an extremely simple, cheap and strong snap hook which is provided with a spring adapted to positively close the hook, which has a trigger arranged to lock the hook and take the strain off the spring, and which by means of the trigger may be very easily opened when necessary.

To these ends my invention consists of certain features of construction and combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved snap hook. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the snap hook and Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the snap hook.

The device is provided with the customary elongated body 10, which at oneend terminates in a hook 11 and at the other end in an eye 12 to which a strap or cord may be attached. The snap may be of different sizes and shapes. The back of the body is deeply recessed, as shown at 13, this recess extending from one end of the body to the opening of the hook 11, and the recess merges in a hole 14 extending through the body and providing for the movement of the bent end 18 of the tongue 16, which is pivoted near its rear end, which may be done by means of apin or any other convenient way, as shown at 17, and is adapted to swing back and forth in the recess 13. The bent end 18 of the tongue is adapted to close against the hook 11 on its inner side, near the point, and the outer part of the bent end 18 is inclined toward the point, as shown best in Fig. 2, so that the snap may be conveniently hooked into a ring or other article. The base of the tongue 16 is split or forked or shaped in some other convenient way, as shown at 19 in Figs. 2 and 3, and in this end of the tongue is pivoted a trigger 21 which is hung on a pin 20,

but may be pivoted in any convenient'way. This trigger is of angular shape and its front side is adapted to fit squarely against the rear end of the tongue, while its outer side should be flush with the back of the tongue, and this side has a thumb piece 22 which may be pressed when the trigger and tongue are to be released. The inner end of the trigger is adapted to rest upon a stop 23 on the body 1O and the trigger is normally thrown to this position, so as to lock the tongue by a spring 24 which at one end enters a notch in the inner portion of the trigger and at the other is held firmly in a corner of shoulder 25 near the front end of the recess 13, as shown clearly in Fig. 2. Any suitable spring may be sub stituted for the fiat spring 24.

By pressing inward on the thumb piece 22, the inner portion of the trigger 21 is thrown forward and outward until the trigger is thrown (or tripped) off of step 23 and then the continued pressure swings inward the rear or base end of the tongue at 17, bending the spring 24 as it does so and the bent end 18 of the tongue is swung outward through the hole 14; of the body 10, thus opening the hook 11, and when the thumb piece is released the spring 24 carries the tongue and trigger back to position and swings the inner end of the trigger upon the stop 23. It now there is any strain placed upon the tongue 16 to open it, it acts upon the trigger and causes it to bear firmly against the stop 23 and effectually lock the tongue, but the spring 24: is in nowise strained.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A snap hook, comprising an elongated body terminating at one end in a hook and at the other end in an eye, which may be of any desired shape or form, the body being longitudinally recessed from the hook rearward, a

tongue pivoted in the recess and adapted to which extends through the body opposite the point or end of the hook, a tongue pivoted in the recess and provided with a bent end to engage the hook, an angular trigger pivoted on the rear end of the tongue, a stop to engage the inner end of the trigger, and a spring held in the body and engaging the trigger, substantially as described.

3. A snap hook, comprising an elongated body terminating at one end in a hook and at the other in an eye, the body being longitudinally recessed along its back and having its said recess merging in a hole which extends fastened in the recess and engaging the trig- 2o ger, substantially as described.

JOSEPH II. WITTMANN.

W i tnesses OTTO WITTMANN, Roma 0. WOLF. 

